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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29250912">Separation Anxiety</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/battle_goats/pseuds/battle_goats'>battle_goats</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, F/M, Multi, Pre-Canon, but it is also rikai in a sorikai world, this is mostly rikai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:35:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>624</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29250912</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/battle_goats/pseuds/battle_goats</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Riku was the one who changed schools at the start of the year. So why does he feel like he's being left behind?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kairi/Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Separation Anxiety</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Riku stared at himself in the mirror. He’d hated the uniform the day he’d gone with his mother to pick it up. The grey slacks were starchy and stiff still, and there were still folding creases in the sleeves of the shirt. The light blue plaid tie hung loosely around his neck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Riku! Come down and eat breakfast!” his mother called up the stairs. He sighed and reached for something to tie his hair back with. It was starting to get long and brush against his shoulders. He hoped his parents wouldn’t notice and make him cut it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Morning Mom,” he greeted as he sat down in front of the plate she’d already set out for him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good morning, sweetie. Ready for your first day of high school?” she asked. She took one look at his face, and her excitement faded. “I know you already miss Sora and Kairi. This isn’t any different from when you started middle school.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That did nothing to make him feel better about. He <em>loved</em> his best friends. It hadn’t been quite so bad in seventh grade, since he’d thought he was too cool to want to hang out with his two elementary school friends. But this felt infinitely worse for reasons he couldn't quite put his finger on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Riku ate robotically, Bite of rice, egg, then salted fish. Take a sip of juice. Repeat. He’d at least get to walk with them to school since the high school was only a little further up the road from the middle school.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’ll be alright, you’ll see.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t alright at all. They were one month into the school year and he missed Sora and Kairi terribly. His parents were constantly bugging him about his grades. Which were fine. He wasn’t top of the class, but he wasn’t particularly struggling to keep up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The worst were his classmates. None of them were strangers. Everyone on the Destiny Islands knew everyone. But they were constantly bugging him. Boys were usually trying to bug him for his opinions on the girls, or were trying to recruit him to whatever sports club they were in. It was no secret that Riku was athletic with excellent hand eye coordination and that was apparently a hot commodity. Boys and girls were frequently trying to ask him out, and he turned them down every time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t care what his classmates thought of him for it. Every time someone asked to talk to him, he just felt a cold pit in his stomach that told him that they weren’t the right one. Not the right person.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>An elbow dug into Riku’s ribs and he looked down at Kairi who looked like she was seeing right into his thoughts. It felt odd to be walking home without Sora, but he was stuck on cleaning duty for the day, and had insisted that Kairi not wait for him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ve been in your head a lot, lately,” she said. Riku sighed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just...got a lot on my mind,” he said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kairi unexpectedly reached for his hand and held on tight. That cold pit in his stomach that all the girls who talked to him left was gone. He squeezed her hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t get too lost in there, we might not see you again,” Kairi joked. “Now come with me to that new bubble tea place that just opened up! Selphie says it’s a perfect date spot.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Riku huffed and let himself be pulled along by the hand. This was nice, and he was afraid of losing it. He thought back to when they were ten and eleven, and briefly talked about building a raft and finding Kairi’s home. He wondered if maybe they could give that a shot again.</span>
</p>
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